radiator question

IndyBlk5.0

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Nov 24, 2003

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 17, 2004

#1

• Jan 17, 2004

• #1

well guys, still trouble shooting... Now... I wait until my car warms up to see the coolant flowing through the radiator.. Well, when the t stat opens it sucks the water down to where i cant see it at all, and doesnt refill itself for a good 10 seconds after wards, is this a clogged radiator? What will a typical radiator do when going through cycles? Does the water drop to wehre you cant see it ? and how long does it take to refill itself?

 

P

PRO50SC

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Dec 28, 2003

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Olney, Maryland

Jan 17, 2004

#2

• Jan 17, 2004

• #2

It doesn't refiil itself. What is happening is , when the t-stat opens , any air trapped in the system lets the coolant replace the air pocket, thus creating more room for coolant. As this happens, start filling the radiator with more coolant. You will see the coolant flow start running thru the fins of the radiator as more coolant is added. Leave about a 1-2 inch gap from the top of the radiator to allow for any more air pockets to work themselves out. After it reaches operating temp(both rad hoses should be hot) top of the radiator and then make sure the overflow has the propper amount of coolant as well.

 

IndyBlk5.0

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Nov 24, 2003

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 17, 2004

#3

• Jan 17, 2004

• #3

I do, i did this over and over burping the system with a FEW gallons of water, the thing was it would eventually start pushing the water out of the radiator, then stop, suck it dry almost... Whats up with this

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

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Nov 29, 1999

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Jan 17, 2004

#4

• Jan 17, 2004

• #4

how much did it initially take (i.e., how many gallons did it take to fill before it was full)?

 

IndyBlk5.0

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Nov 24, 2003

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Jan 17, 2004

#5

• Jan 17, 2004

• #5

with it absolutely dry all the way even in the water jackets (heads were off, intake was dry, blah blah, i think allittle over two gallons.

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

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Jan 18, 2004

#6

• Jan 18, 2004

• #6

i dont know. sorry man. i would see if i can eventually get the level to stabilize. if not, i might tear things apart. only places i know of that coolant can escape (barring external leaks) is head gaskets, lower intake, TB gasket (egr cooling lines) and heater core.
good luck. i dunno.

 

IndyBlk5.0

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Nov 24, 2003

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 18, 2004

#7

• Jan 18, 2004

• #7

only thing i havent replaced that you listed was tb gasket. im not loosing fluid, it is pushing it out, i refill it but eventually it will push water out, then it will suck it dry agian, someone help!

 

90mustangGT

I felt sorry for girls because

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Jan 15, 2002

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Jan 18, 2004

#8

• Jan 18, 2004

• #8

It's normal, the air pocket escapes when the t-stat opens and you need to fill that space with coolant.

 

IndyBlk5.0

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 18, 2004

#9

• Jan 18, 2004

• #9

it constantly blows bubbles though out of the radiator when it burps it out, we went through a few gallons and still did it strong

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

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Jan 19, 2004

#10

• Jan 19, 2004

• #10

obviously, im confused. two thoughts. if the coolant is actually bubbling like a geyser, that suggests that the headgasket or block, etc went bad, and combustion pressures are getting into the coolant.

if it spits coolant out, is it comin out the rad neck (runnin with cap off) or out the overflow? with the cap on, do you notice that no coolant from the reservoir is being used, etc? the cap could be toast. with cap probs, ive seen/heard cars that make "bubbling" noises after the car is turned off. also, as mentioned, the coolant cant overcome spring pressure to put fluid in the reservoir. some with "weaker" cooling systems run a lower pressure rad cap.

one of these or none may apply, as im confused (not you, im just tired).
to anwer your original question, ill share what i know. when i did my cooling system once over on the 88 gt, i flushed coolant and did a new stat. i jacked the driver side, front end of the car, to get the rad filler neck to be the highest part of the cooling system, so help purge cavitated air. i filled it all up with the new juice. i ran it with the rad cap off. warm it up. when the stat opened, the coolant in the rad started flowing from pass side to drivers side. the level in the rad went to an inch or two below the neck, and no higher. it burped a little at first, and i added coolant. then stabilized. stayed at this level indefinately.

so thats how mine operates, if it helps give you a lil' basis of what (may) be normal.

good luck.

 

IndyBlk5.0

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Nov 24, 2003

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 19, 2004

#11

• Jan 19, 2004

• #11

see mine goes from full, to sucking the thing dry... then i put water in it to get it back up to water (sometimes alot) then 15 seconds later it pushes it out of the radiator

 

J

jerry beach

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Ocala,FL

Jan 19, 2004

#12

• Jan 19, 2004

• #12

Again, do you see lots and lots of bubbles, and water gushing out of the rad at idle? If so, you prolly have a blown head gasket. I know this was already stated by others, but its important that you look for this. I have a block test kit that was given to me. It detects compression in the coolant. Call some auto parts store and ask for one if you are not sure. This will tell you for certain if you have a major problem or not.

Again, does it do this with the cap on too? The only other thing I can think of would be the stat opening too late. If it is allowing the water to boil in the block before it opens, that could cause the boil-over that you describe.

 

IndyBlk5.0

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Nov 24, 2003

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 19, 2004

#13

• Jan 19, 2004

• #13

yes, i know i have compression gasses in my coolant, my ignitial question was why would it suck my radiator dry, and then i refill and it pushes it back out, i would think it would only suck the water level down 2 or 3 inches, but it goes all the way down, is this a clogged radiator?

 

S

speed1972

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Denver, CO - Buckley AFB

Jan 19, 2004

#14

• Jan 19, 2004

• #14

simple really. you have started out with low water in the radiator (prior to filling). When you fill it and start it up to burp the system, the level of water is going to drop when the thermostat opens and releases the trapped air. At this point, you fill the radiator with coolant. Keep doing this until the radiator stays full. Never should you "not" be able to see the water in the radiator.

Now part 2 of your question refers to pushing water out. I only know of 2 things that could cause this situation. Provided you are having this problem with the radiator cap off, it is either a bad thermostat which is not opening properly or it is a blown headgasket pushing compressed gasses into the cooling system. You will have problems with overheating and water being pushed out in both situations. I recommend doing a compression check and replacing the thermostat and see where you are....Larry

 

IndyBlk5.0

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Nov 24, 2003

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 19, 2004

#15

• Jan 19, 2004

• #15

yes, i know about how to burp the system. i know why i loose allitle bit while running the system for the first time, i know how that works. as for i can not see the water in the radiator, that it sucks that much out (not saying that it is actually sucking a lot out, but maybe my coils are plugged, that means i would be able to hold significantly less water in the radiator. So, if my radiator was clogged, would it be possible for it to suck it dry because it is so clogged it cant hold any water, or. when it pushes out the water out of the radiator (not sure if it is cracked head/headgasket/cracked block) that it would push so much out that it would half empty the system, in turn sucking the radiator dry when the thermostat opens... am i right?

 

jmuva44

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Nov 25, 2000

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Richmond, VA

Apr 8, 2004

#16

• Apr 8, 2004

• #16

My car has spewed up coolant before too. It was just cuz of air in the system causing the engine to get too hot too quick and once the air passed all of that coolant boiled in the engine and spewed over. just keep burping the car. I've been burping mine for like three days now and about to do it again. I cant get mine to burp fully either. Dont feel bad...good luck

 

jmuva44

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Nov 25, 2000

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Richmond, VA

Apr 8, 2004

#17

• Apr 8, 2004

• #17

Disregard that....i'm an idiot and forgot that I was searching. LOL How embarassing